US5201876A - Method of adjusting the impact energy of a letter key or type element of a printing machine and typewriter, printer or the like printing machine using that method - Google Patents

Method of adjusting the impact energy of a letter key or type element of a printing machine and typewriter, printer or the like printing machine using that method Download PDF

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Publication number
US5201876A
US5201876A US07/739,696 US73969691A US5201876A US 5201876 A US5201876 A US 5201876A US 73969691 A US73969691 A US 73969691A US 5201876 A US5201876 A US 5201876A
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United States
Prior art keywords
hammer
different
flight
impact
type elements
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Expired - Fee Related
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US07/739,696
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English (en)
Inventor
Werner Stengel
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TA Triumph Adler AG
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TA Triumph Adler AG
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Assigned to TA TRIUMPH-ADLER AG reassignment TA TRIUMPH-ADLER AG ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST. Assignors: STENGEL, WERNER
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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J9/00—Hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/44—Control for hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/48—Control for hammer-impression mechanisms for deciding or adjusting hammer-drive energy
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J9/00—Hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/44—Control for hammer-impression mechanisms
    • B41J9/46—Control for hammer-impression mechanisms for deciding or adjusting hammer-firing time

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method of adjusting and/or correcting the impact energy of a letter key or type element of a typewriter, printer or the like printing machine, and also to the typewriter, printer and/or other printing machine which uses that method.
  • a printing machine in which a type element or letter key is pressed against a substrate by a hammer accelerated by a hammer electromagnet.
  • the hammer flight time determines the magnitude of the impact energy and the duration of current flow in the hammer electromagnet is adjusted according to that.
  • the impact of the letter key or the type element on the substrate e.g. a paper guided around a typewriter roll, occurs with a definite predetermined impact energy, so that a uniform type character with sufficiently strong impression results, while avoiding damage to the substrate.
  • the impact energy of the key or type element is proportional to the square of the speed at the moment of impact.
  • the impact speed of the type element and/or the hammer is produced because the hammer electromagnet accelerates the hammer with a certain current level flow through the electromagnet for a predetermined current flow duration.
  • a motion stage occurs without acceleration, in which the hammer up to the time of impact moves toward the type element and/or the substrate with a uniform speed. Since the geometric relationships and dimensions, i.e. especially the path of the hammer to impact, remain the same, the free flight time is directly proportional to the free flight speed and produces accordingly a certain impact energy.
  • the free flight speed of the hammer is measured in production of the typewriter or printer with different measuring methods and is stored in the data memory of the central data processing unit of the typewriter or printer, so that, when a certain type element or letter key is activated, an appropriate current flow duration results, which leads to the desired impact energy.
  • Determination of a certain current flow duration in advance for the hammer electromagnet for a certain type element has not previously taken into account variations in the impact conditions due to manufacturing conditions and changes with increasing operating time.
  • the method for determining the impact energy of a letter key or type element includes determining a time of impact of the hammer and/or a type element or letter key on the substrate being printed and/or on the typewriter roll guiding the substrate by a sensing means including a sensor and a processor means including a memory connected with the sensing means, determining a time of onset of current flow in the hammer electromagnet for the flight path associated with the impact detected by the sensing means, determining the hammer flight time for the corresponding flight path as the difference of the time of onset of current in the electromagnet and the time of impact determined by the sensing means, and repeating the determination of hammerflight time for at least one other different-length flight path.
  • the flight time of at least one of the letter keys or type elements and its impact energy is controlled by changing the current flow in the hammer electromagnet according to an actual value of a difference between the flight times for two different-length flight paths and a set value.
  • the free flight speed and thus the speed at impact is just the quotient of a flight path difference and a time difference between the flight durations for the different flight paths, then from the flight time difference, when, the flight path length difference is known, the flight speed at impact can be determined by division and thus the impact energy can be thus be derived from that.
  • Different free flight paths can be obtained, according to one embodiment of the invention, by measuring successive impact of different type elements or letter keys of different thickness. If, e.g., one type element of a type wheel with a greater thickness than another type element is struck by the same hammer, thus the free flight path of the hammer is shortened.
  • the path differences in the path of the hammer can be directly related to thickness differences of the type elements struck in succession.
  • different length free flight paths for the same letter key or type element are obtained by insertion of a strip of material of thickness between the strip of material and the substrate in the vicinity of the impact. Therefore one and the same type element or letter key directly strikes the substrate or the typewriter roll one time and immediately after that impacts with the material strip intervening. Consequently, different flight times result, so that the free flight speed can be obtained from the flight time difference and the flight path difference which is equal to the thickness of the material strip.
  • a microphone for example, can be used as sensor for detection of the occurrence of the hammer impact on the typewriter substrate and/or the typewriter roll. This microphone converts the sound of the impact into an electrical signal which is received by a processor means which determines the impact time.
  • the microphone can be attached rigidly to the typewriter or printer, and an adjustment is performed by comparison with stored set value flight time difference for two known type elements during the typewriter operation and by current flow duration in the hammer electromagnet performed according to that comparison.
  • FIG. 1 is schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of a device used to perform the method according to the invention as applied to a typewriter;
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a device used to perform the method according to the invention as applied to a typewriter;
  • FIG. 3 is a graphical illustration of the flight time determination according to one embodiment of the method of the invention.
  • a hammer electromagnet 1 which is formed as a substantially cylindrical electromagnet, is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
  • a hammer 2 longitudinally slidable in the hammer electromagnet 1 is positioned to be accelerated in the direction of a typewriter roll 3.
  • a sensing means 4, e.g. including a microphone, is provided on the other side of the typewriter roll 3 from that of the hammer electromagnet 1. This sensing means 4 detects the impact of the type element 6 on the typewriter roll 3.
  • a processor means 9 is connected to sensing means 4 to receive signals from the sensing means 4 and to store a time of impact of the type element 6 determined from the signals received from the sensing means 4.
  • the processor means 9 is also connected to and controls the current flow in the hammer electromagnet 1.
  • a strip of material 5 of thickness S can be put between a type element 6 receiving the impact of the hammer and the typewriter roll 3 so as to shorten the free flight of the hammer 2 and to allow the determination of the flight time difference between the impact times of the type element 6 with and without the intervening strip of material 5.
  • the hammer 2 drives the type element 6 to impact on the typewriter roll 3.
  • the flight time t I between onset of current in the electromagnet and impact of the type element 6 on the substrate consists of an acceleration time t 1 plus a free flight time t 2 during which its speed is constant.
  • the flight time is measured as the difference between the impact time of the type element 6 and the time current flow in the electromagnet and is stored in the memory of processor means 9.
  • the strip of material 5 is interposed between the typewriter element 6 in the vicinity of the place of impact and the typewriter roll 3.
  • the flight time t II is measured again as the difference between the time current flows in the electromagnet and the time of impact and is also stored in the memory of the processor means 9.
  • the free flight time t 3 and thus the flight time t II differs from the previously measured values without the strip of material 5 present, because the strip of material 5 changes the free flight time, however the type element speed will be the same. Then the speed of the type element 6 can be determined since it equals the thickness S of the strip of material 5 divided by the difference of the flight times t I -t II stored in the processor means 9.
  • a flight time difference is attained, because type elements 7 and with different thicknesses S1 and/or S2 impact one after the other.
  • the known thickness difference S1-S2 allows one to determine the free flight speed and thus provides information on the determination of the impact energy.

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  • Impact Printers (AREA)
  • Dot-Matrix Printers And Others (AREA)
US07/739,696 1990-08-10 1991-08-02 Method of adjusting the impact energy of a letter key or type element of a printing machine and typewriter, printer or the like printing machine using that method Expired - Fee Related US5201876A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE4025359A DE4025359A1 (de) 1990-08-10 1990-08-10 Verfahren zur einstellung der abdruckenergie einer type und schreibmaschine, drucker o. dgl. zur durchfuehrung des verfahrens
DE4025359 1990-08-10

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US5201876A true US5201876A (en) 1993-04-13

Family

ID=6411995

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US07/739,696 Expired - Fee Related US5201876A (en) 1990-08-10 1991-08-02 Method of adjusting the impact energy of a letter key or type element of a printing machine and typewriter, printer or the like printing machine using that method

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US5201876A (it)
JP (1) JPH0811360A (it)
DE (1) DE4025359A1 (it)
FR (1) FR2665667B1 (it)
GB (1) GB2246743B (it)
IT (1) IT1250446B (it)
SE (1) SE9102144L (it)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5518327A (en) * 1993-10-22 1996-05-21 Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Wire motion detecting apparatus for wire dot head and wire dot impact printer apparatus therewith
US6547567B1 (en) * 2000-07-13 2003-04-15 The University Of Arizona Bouncing ball apparatus

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
TW300219B (it) * 1991-09-14 1997-03-11 Hoechst Ag
GB2325434A (en) * 1997-05-21 1998-11-25 Wang Man David Ho An apparatus and a method of printing a workpiece

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4173927A (en) * 1976-04-01 1979-11-13 U.S. Philips Corporation Printing device
US4547087A (en) * 1983-01-20 1985-10-15 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Microprocessor-controlled printing mechanism having an opto-electronic sensor
US4797017A (en) * 1985-09-27 1989-01-10 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Wire dot matrix printer capable of printing letters on a plurality of superposed sheets of paper
US4880322A (en) * 1987-11-20 1989-11-14 Ta Triumph-Adler Aktiengesellschaft Method for rebound damping of print hammer magnets in typewriters or similar office machines
US4911568A (en) * 1987-07-24 1990-03-27 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Printer

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5848272B2 (ja) * 1976-08-09 1983-10-27 日立造船株式会社 連続鋳造設備におけるモ−ルド
DE2827758A1 (de) * 1978-06-24 1980-01-10 Robotron Veb K Typenfingerbehafteter typentraeger fuer seriendruckwerke
JPS58142875A (ja) * 1982-02-17 1983-08-25 Fujitsu Ltd 印字ハンマの飛行時間検出装置
JPS5973979A (ja) * 1982-10-22 1984-04-26 Fujitsu Ltd 自動印字調整機構
DE3367879D1 (en) * 1983-08-02 1987-01-15 Ibm Deutschland Hammer flight time control for an impact printer
JPS6251466A (ja) * 1985-08-30 1987-03-06 Nec Corp プリンタ

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4173927A (en) * 1976-04-01 1979-11-13 U.S. Philips Corporation Printing device
US4547087A (en) * 1983-01-20 1985-10-15 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Microprocessor-controlled printing mechanism having an opto-electronic sensor
US4797017A (en) * 1985-09-27 1989-01-10 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Wire dot matrix printer capable of printing letters on a plurality of superposed sheets of paper
US4911568A (en) * 1987-07-24 1990-03-27 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Printer
US4880322A (en) * 1987-11-20 1989-11-14 Ta Triumph-Adler Aktiengesellschaft Method for rebound damping of print hammer magnets in typewriters or similar office machines

Non-Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 24 No. 3 Aug. 1981 "Print Velocity Pendulum".
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 24 No. 3 Aug. 1981 Print Velocity Pendulum . *
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 32 No. 8A Jan. 1990 "Print Hammer Impact Detection Circuit".
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 32 No. 8A Jan. 1990 Print Hammer Impact Detection Circuit . *
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 28, No. 10, Mar. 1986 "Algorithm for Magnetic Sensing of Print Actuator Dynamics".
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 28, No. 10, Mar. 1986 Algorithm for Magnetic Sensing of Print Actuator Dynamics . *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5518327A (en) * 1993-10-22 1996-05-21 Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Wire motion detecting apparatus for wire dot head and wire dot impact printer apparatus therewith
US6547567B1 (en) * 2000-07-13 2003-04-15 The University Of Arizona Bouncing ball apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IT1250446B (it) 1995-04-07
FR2665667A1 (fr) 1992-02-14
ITMI911829A1 (it) 1992-02-11
GB2246743B (en) 1994-07-06
GB2246743A (en) 1992-02-12
GB9117378D0 (en) 1991-09-25
DE4025359A1 (de) 1992-02-13
FR2665667B1 (fr) 1993-07-09
SE9102144D0 (sv) 1991-07-08
ITMI911829A0 (it) 1991-07-03
JPH0811360A (ja) 1996-01-16
SE9102144L (sv) 1992-02-11
DE4025359C2 (it) 1993-01-21

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AS Assignment

Owner name: TA TRIUMPH-ADLER AG

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:STENGEL, WERNER;REEL/FRAME:005798/0261

Effective date: 19910712

REMI Maintenance fee reminder mailed
LAPS Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
FP Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee

Effective date: 19970416

STCH Information on status: patent discontinuation

Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362